Posted on 11/12/2010 12:48:48 PM PST by bkopto
Yep - you’re right. Best price I see on recently completed auctions is $1660/$100 face. ($274 face auction)
Should have known price was that high. I’ve been watch the Kitco chart. Bought mine when it was $12/ounce. Booyah.
A Marine buddy of mine told me how, while being shipped to Korea on a troopship, the skipper had to ban anybody taking spoons from the messhall. It seems that to kill time, the guys were "borrowing" a spoon to create a silver ring for their girlfriend(s).
They'd get a half dollar and by resting it on the heel of their combat boot, start turning the coin while tapping on the rim with the spoon, gradually peening it out to the size of a ring, then get a Machinist Mate to bore out the center.
He said it looked like a bunch of Chinese coolies humped over their feet and pinging away all day long. Drove him crazy.
I love the idea of taking something that costs $10 and turning it into something beautiful that you can sell for much more. An old half dollar weighs about 12 grams, so you have a lot to work with. Have you ever combined several coins into a bracelet?
My uncles used spoons on the railroad tracks to make quarter rings for their girls in the 50’s. I use brass or stainless steel rods, depending on how far along the ring is.
I thought they were shining me on, so I tried it. Been doing it ever since.
Great way to accumulate silver, I must have a few pounds worth of rings here and there. The tapping does annoy, the wife will no longer let me tap when she is around. I don't even notice it, and don't even have to look at the ring as it proceeds.
There are companies that sell machine made coin rings vastly superior to mine for a lot less.
I loose most of the coin face when I finish them, but I have seen some that actually roll the face of the coin to the outside of the ring. They sell for @ $50.00.
They come in gold too, but coin gold is too soft for daily wear.
I made my wedding ring from a panda ounce.
The CC Silver coins seem to be the best as far as durability. The 64’ Kennedy half's are too hard for some reason and take more effort than a Prospector ounce. I try to get the Franklin (I think) half's for thick girl thumb rings.
That’s who I bought my silver and gold from also. They are a good company to do business with.
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